Find New Solutions, Make Help available for More People

By Brian McAlister

I can’t help but notice everything going on in Philadelphia. Recently, seven people died and 110 more were sickened as a result of dangerously adulterated opioids in the Kensington section. Just days before that, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revealed that Pennsylvania made the top 10 list in the country for overdose deaths. Despite Philadelphia’s – and the nation’s – best efforts to combat and control drug addiction, addiction rates are still spiraling out of control.

Columnist Kevin Riordan’s Sept. 24^th column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, ‘What is addiction’ is a good question, but ‘what is recovery’ may be better’, was on target—and necessary. As someone in long-term recovery, he has a broad and deep understanding of what it takes to reach recovery—and the daily battle required to stay there. And he knows there is no one-size-fits-all solution for each individual struggling to restore sanity to their lives. Simply put, he called for a refocusing on recovery rather than addiction and called for creating awareness about a multitude of recovery programs so that people can get the treatment that’s right for them, when and where they need it.

Like Kevin, I was successful using the proven 12-step method, and like him I still attend those meetings today. It’s a proven system that works for many—but not for all and often not as the only source of support. Motivation and readiness to change, social implications, and even convenience and scheduling can deter participation. It’s also been proven that the standard 28-day model and a few months of outpatient treatment is rarely enough to help achieve long-term sobriety. The challenges a newly sober person faces when they’re not in a group setting —and that’s most of a day and most days of the year – are vast.

My own personal journey inspired me to ask different questions and create a new model of support. It’s based on sobriety and seeing what worked for the many people in our treatment center and beyond. My goal is to help others move through sobriety with the personal insight to realign and interrupt negative thought patterns.

We encourage everyone to continue to ask better questions, find new solutions, and make help available for more people.  As Kevin noted, “we need to make as many harm reduction and treatment programs available as possible, as quickly as possible.”

“It becomes clear that this is an extraordinary crisis demanding an extraordinary response,” he wrote. We agree. Now is the time to act, before we lose more lives to addiction—in Philadelphia and throughout our great nation.

Brian McAlister is the President and CEO of Virtual Recovery System™ Freedom 365 and Full Recovery Wellness Center. He is Best-selling author of Full Recovery, The Recovering Person’s Guide to Unleashing Your Inner Power. Sober date: August 2, 1990